“My mother is a fish”
As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner
She’d anoint the dock with blood
And baptize the gills to save my
White mouth from swallowing
Insolent sea religion.
Blame the fisherman for biting
Silence and sanity and sin and
The worm-bait that begged her
Green algae kisses.
Marry the midwife that birthed
The last tide change and she’d
Steal the ebbing burden of
Quiet pressing waves.
My mother is a fish
And when the weight of scales
Scraped my eye like a hook,
Did you ever doubt she’d fight
To consecrate my water-grave?
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About The Author
Originally from Jupiter, Florida, Alexandra Gold has been living in Philadelphia for three years as a student at the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences double majoring in English with a Creative Writing/Poetry Emphasis and Political Science.
Nice, AJ, nice. I really like that last stanza.
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